The Dying Flame
by satil
Summary: This is a sequel to my story, 'Break of Dawn.' It's about Tasuki, his last breath, and ending the days of being a Suzaku Seishi.


The Dying Flame  
By: Satil  
  
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This story is a sequel to one of my other stories, "Break of Dawn." ^^; The title is a dead giveaway, but I hope all of you will still be able to enjoy this story… ;_; And for those of you who don't know, Taka is the reborn form of Tamahome. I didn't make it up, though. ^^; It's in the original story.  
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'I can't give up,' Tasuki thought, using his kasa to catch all of the arrows that were aimed towards him. "I'm the last seishi in this world, and I promised eight years ago that I will go on for as long as I can…"  
  
He disappeared and reappeared into a tree not so far away, hoping nobody will be able to see him. But his hopes died down when several arrows were struck into his back, seeping in deeply.  
  
Tasuki's limp body fell down to the ground, in such pain. 'These got to be poisonous arrows,' he thought. 'No way will I be able…'  
  
"Foolish man," an ex-Kutou soldier stepped up to Tasuki, interrupting his thoughts.   
  
"Thinking you can get away? I still have such hate for you and Konan."  
"Damn you… that battle was nine years ago, and you still remember?" Tasuki laughed. "I guess the rumors about Kutou soldiers are true. They all dwell on such failure."  
  
"Die," the Kutou soldier got out his nanchaku and smashed it down on Tasuki, and all Tasuki could see was red, then black.  
  
  
Sukunami Taka woke up with a start, sweat pouring down from his forehead. 'What was… what was…?' Taka thought, disturbed. He put his hand on his head, breathing heavily and shaken by his dream. 'Tasuki...'  
  
Taka got up and fixed his bed, then headed into the bathroom for a nice, hot shower. 'Why was Tasuki in my dream last night? Why am I feeling like I am going to lose something?' Taka kept thinking, really puzzled.  
  
He got out of the shower and dried himself off, then put on a pair of pants and a white undershirt. Then the phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" Taka answered.  
  
"Taka," the female's voice on the other line exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, hey, Miaka," Taka smiled.  
  
"Let's go down to the park today!" Miaka suggested. "Yui and Tetsuya will be there."  
  
"Okay, I'll be right over."  
  
  
"Taka," Miaka held onto Taka's arm, resting her head on his shoulder as they strolled through the park.  
  
"Miaka!" Yui called out. "Miaka, come over here! You too, Taka!"  
  
"Oh, what now, Yui?" Miaka mumbled, irritated, just as she was having time with Taka.  
  
Taka laughed, "Come on, Miaka. Let's go." They two of them started walking towards them, but Taka stopped as Miaka went ahead.  
  
'Tamahome,' a voice called for him.  
  
'Nani…?' Taka's eyes widened.  
  
'Come… come with me,' the voice continued. 'He needs you.'  
  
"Taka?" Miaka turned around, and her eyes widened as she saw Taka being surrounded by a familiar red light. "No… no…"  
  
'He needs help, Tamahome. He needs you to see him.'  
  
"Miaka…" Taka mumbled.  
  
"Onegai, Suzaku… please, don't take him away from me… onegai!" Miaka began running towards Taka, her hand reaching out to him.  
  
"Miaka," Taka began to disppear, but as soon as Miaka was close enough to touch him, he vanished.  
  
"Taka!!!" Miaka cried, falling down to her knees.  
  
  
Taka appeared in an open field, with a flowing river just on the right of him.  
  
'I will grant you your last memories, Tamahome,' the voice continued on. 'You will need them for just this moment.'  
  
Taka's mind began to be filled with memories of the time when he was collecting his memory jewels. Images of Miaka, Hotohori, Nuriko, Chichiri, and the rest of the Suzaku Seishi began to flood his mind, like it was a film. But most of his memories were of Tasuki, the fifth seishi that was a bag of hotheaded burden, but was always so full of life.  
  
'Tasuki… he was in my dream last night, but why?' Taka thought, and began to look around. But just then, he spotted a man with orange, flaming hair wearing clothes similar to Chichiri's clothes, and the same mask as his. He was lying under a tree, struggling to breathe.  
  
"Hey!" Taka cried out, and headed towards him. He went down to his knees to check him out, to see if he was all right.  
  
The man moaned, then looked to his left, and saw Tamahome, as he still remembered him by. "Taka…" he managed to say.  
  
"Tasuki," Taka took his hand, and put it up to his face. "What happened?"  
  
"Does…" Tasuki took a deep breath. "…matter…?" His eyes gazed at a set of arrows down at his feet.  
  
Taka's eyes followed where he was looking, and understood.  
  
"Haven't… you in a… time, Taka," Tasuki grinned. "I'm not making any… sense… am I?" His words were beginning to slur.  
  
Tears began to form in Taka's eyes, and his heart began to hurt as he stared at his friend in pain. "You're making perfect sense, Tasuki."  
  
"Bullshit," Tasuki cursed, but then he winced in pain, sweat pouring down.  
  
"Tasuki! Tasuki!" Taka cried out, looking down at him with worry.  
  
He slowly opened his eye. A thin trace of life was in his crimson eye. "Been eight years, Taka… eight… ucking… ears…" He sucked in a deep breath, not being able to finish his sentences or words. "…Miaka…?"  
  
"Miaka's fine, she's fine," Taka's voice shook with fear and sorrow. He could feel the hot, wet tears running down his pale cheek. His hands that held Tasuki's left were shaking, too.  
  
"Remember… when we… drunk?" Tasuki grinned, then a slight chuckle. "Metcha Hajikete… Gatts… Toba…"  
  
"Metcha Hajikete Gattsu Tobashite?" Taka corrected, more tears streaming down. "Yeah, I remember. Hotohori, Nuriko, Chich…"  
  
Tasuki interrupted with a grunt. "Chichiri… was… best friend…" His breathing began to slow down, but was heavy. He lifted his right hand to remove his mask, which had Taka in shock.  
  
'The scar across his left eye is just like… just like…' Taka couldn't think of any other reason why Tasuki would do this to himself, other than…   
  
"Chichiri… how is he…?" He began to choke on his own words; hopefully he is not going to hear what he's thinking.  
  
"Hikou… with… Hi…kou," Tasuki stopped talking.  
  
"Tasuki…" Taka's eyes widen, and he let go of Tasuki's hand. He hovered over Tasuki. "Tasuki!!! Tasuki!!!"  
  
"…mm…" Tasuki groaned. "…here…  
  
"Chichiri... heaven... with... Hikou..."  
  
"Oh, Tasuki…" Taka was scared. He sat back, knowing that he was going to lose something…  
  
"…You…me…never…" Tasuki began to sweat even worse, and his eyes revealed a very thin line of life left. "…song…"  
  
Taka's eyesight became blurry, and couldn't see Tasuki clearly. "Wish we did, buddy."  
  
"The…drunk…song…?"  
  
Taka looked up at the sky, and saw that it was already sunset, and the sky was various colors. Red, green, orange, blue, and purple. "Okay, okay." He took Tasuki's hand once again. He got ready to sing, though he felt silly.  
  
"Take… tessen…" Tasuki closed his eye, and smiled.  
  
Taka felt his hand slip from his grip.  
  
The life energy that Taka felt disappeared.  
  
  
Miaka sat at a table in her apartment with Yui, Keisuke, and Tetsuya. They all were drinking coffee and hot chocolate.  
  
'Taka… where are you?' Miaka thought, but just then, she felt a life source vanish from her. She dropped her cup of hot chocolate on the table, the cup breaking into several pieces.  
  
The others looked at her. "Miaka?" Yui asked.  
  
'Tasuki… Tasuki…' Miaka kept thinking, over and over again.  
  
  
"Tasuki! Tasukiii!!!" Taka screamed his name, as if by doing so, it will bring back his friend. "Oh, God, Tasuki!!!" He wept in such sorrow.  
  
A cold breeze swept around him, throwing his hair this way and that. He realized it was dark, and so he stood up.  
  
'Time for you to go home,' the voice said in his mind.  
  
"Suzaku, God of the south," Taka began, "take me home."  
  
His body began to be surrounded by the red light for the last time. He looked down at Tasuki's body, watching it disappear.  
  
'He's going to Taiitsukun, Taka. There, in the mountains, he will be buried.'  
  
Once Tasuki's body was gone, he took note of the tessen that was left behind. He knelt down, and picked it up.   
  
"Tasuki…" 


End file.
